Hays (LON:HAS) Trading Up 3.6% – Still a Buy?

Hays plc (LON:HAS) shares shot up 3.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 53 and last traded at GBX 49.71. 6,433,742 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 13,208,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 28 target price on shares of Hays in a report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 33 target price on shares of Hays in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a GBX 60 price target on shares of Hays in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hays currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 57.20.

Hays Stock Up 2.8%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 35.21 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 38.90. The firm has a market cap of £855.64 million, a P/E ratio of -82.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55.

Hays declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 1st that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Hays

In other news, insider Joe Hurd bought 5,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 35 per share, for a total transaction of £1,985.20. Also, insider Mark Dearnley bought 485,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 30 per share, with a total value of £145,650. Insiders have acquired a total of 491,224 shares of company stock valued at $14,765,184 over the last three months. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hays Company Profile